"That damn commoner!"
The fat boy saw the commoner shout out, accepting the trial of the god, and then instantly disappear. As he witnessed this, he was filled with intrigue and frustration at being left behind once again.
Without wasting any time, he too shouted, "I accept the trial!"
In that moment, a blinding light engulfed his vision. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the wilderness.
"What the...? Where am I?"
Darkness surrounded him, with tall walls enclosing him on three sides. As he wondered about his predicament, golden words materialized in front of him.
The fat boy read through the messages and understood the situation, but what surprised him was the last message.
[You have been granted the Magical Bell]
Only then did he notice a bell hanging around his neck....with which he looked like a fat cat with a small bell!
Oblivious to how he looked, the fat boy took off the bell and concentrated on it. Suddenly, numerous golden words appeared before him.
[Path Finder]
[Type: Utility]
[Rank: Spirit]
[Description: A wondrous artifact that will show the way toward a set target.]
Reading the description, the fat boy was surprised. The artifacts that humans found in Paradise had different ranks ranging from Ordinary, Earthly, Heavenly, Spirit, Emperor, Saint, to Divine.
But to think that the simple golden bell in his hand was a Spirit-rank artifact. He didn't know what to feel about it.
"What do I do?"
Even though he looked like a fat dunce, he was not a fool. From the description, he understood that using the bell was very dangerous. Not only would it attract danger, but it would also reveal his position to other participants, including the tall boy and the commoner.
He was somewhat confident in dealing with the commoner, but the tall boy was the problem. He came from a wealthy family like himself, and it would be too dangerous to fight him.
"Let's try to find a way out for now."
In the end, he decided to first try and find the way out himself. If that didn't work, he could always use the bell.
"Let's get moving," he said, dragging along his hefty frame.
***
"I don't know if I am doing this right."
It had been around 10 minutes, or at least that's what Levi estimated.
But he still hadn't found any clues or anything regarding the maze. He didn't know where he was or where he had even started. Although he was trying his best to see if there were any similarities in the paths or any rules the maze followed, so far, he had been unsuccessful.
The walls were separated by three meters, so Levi had enough space to walk around. Even though he didn't know which way was out, he kept moving with a hand on one side of the wall. It may have been time-consuming, but without knowing which way to go, this was the best approach.
He moved slowly and cautiously, not wanting to take any risks, but that was starting to get annoying.
"Should I just crawl instead of walking?"
That was how slow he was moving. Anyway, with no other option, he moved forward.
"Why does it feel like it's getting darker as I move forward?" Levi thought, noticing that the distance between the blue flame torches was increasing.
While Levi was lost in his thoughts, suddenly, an unimaginable pain suddenly invaded his body.
"GAHAAAA!"
Levi screamed loudly, unable to contain his pain as his hand involuntarily moved towards his legs.
There he saw it—blood dripping from his right leg and a metal trap digging into his skin all the way to the bone.
As the pain intensified, Levi didn't know what to do. Many questions filled his mind, 'Why is there a trap?' 'Why wasn't anything mentioned about it in the trial?' and the same only question which he always had, 'Why always me, shit!'
But there was no one to hear his complaints.
Trying to calm down, Levi looked around. All around him was pitch darkness. He didn't know who had placed the trap here, but he didn't dare make any more noise.
Since there was a trap here, then it was very likely that there are monster here too!
Not dumb monsters like Lizogs or the scorpions he had seen, but intelligent creatures... like goblins!
"Damn it!" Cursing without letting out a sound, Levi bit down hard on his teeth as he removed the trap from his leg. Instantly, blood started to drip down his leg.
Growling silently, he held his spear tighter.
"That damn monster must be watching me."
Levi had lived all his life in the government mines and factories, and if there was one monster he knew, it was the damn goblins - who always preferred to make their homes in caves, and traps like this were very common type of methods they use or at least that's what he had heard from his fellow workers!
Levi himself had never encountered a goblin but he didn't dare to underestimate them - anything that had the intelligence to make such a trap would definitely be dangerous for him!
Gritting his teeth, Levi tore his oversized shirt and bandaged his wound, trying to stop the blood. Then he waited in the same position, trying to see if there were any dangers around him, but nothing happened.
'Am I just overthinking? Maybe there really isn't a monster here,' he thought as he tried to move, dragging his leg along, but just then, a goblin jumped at him out of nowhere!
---***---
Lore Snippet 05 - Artifacts
Artifacts are Magical items made of some unknown energy but they can assume physical form when summoned. They are sometimes rewarded for killing the creatures of Paradise by the 'Providence'. There are seven known ranks of Artifacts, one rarer than the other.